Perceived image specialisation in multiscalar tourism destinations

The aim of this paper is to study the perceived image specialisation of multiscalar tourism destinations as reflected in tourists' online user-generated content (UGC). For this purpose, perceived image and place specialisation among subregional brands within a regional destination are studied in the case of Catalonia. The analysis consists of a computerised quantitative content analysis based on keyword counts, aggregated into attraction factor categories, of more than 128,000 travel blog and review entries. First, the density of each attraction factor is analysed for each subregional brand. Second, spatial coefficients are applied to further ascertain the relative specialisation of each subregional brand. Results show strong perceived specialisation between subregional brands within Catalonia as a multiscalar destination and highlight the role of each one in the building of the image of Catalonia as a whole.